No One Should Be Alone
by NoEscapeFromTheStormInside
Summary: Elsa just ran away from Arendelle and was on her way to make a new home on the North Mountain when her journey was rudely interrupted by a cocky young man who tries to convince her to go back home.


Elsa trudged through the snow. If she wanted to make it to the North Mountain, she'd have to pick up the pace. The snow was getting deeper and deeper with every step.

Not that she cared. She couldn't get cold, and if it piled up too high she could carve a path through it with a wave of her hand.

Her hand. She looked down at her hands, one gloved and one bare. She sighed and took the glove off. It wasn't like she'd get frostbite if she left her fingers unprotected.

"Well you don't look like you're having much fun at all."

Elsa jumped and spun around. There wasn't supposed to be anyone else. She was supposed to be alone, for the safety of Arendelle.

For the safety of Anna.

And yet, here was this boy, following her up the mountain, talking about "having fun." She looked him up and down, not quite sure what to make of him. He wore plain clothes, like all of her subjects, and carried a staff. A shepherd. His hair was whiter than her own white-blonde locks, and his skin was paler than the snow. He had blue eyes that twinkled and sparkled with wit and mischief.

Like Anna's eyes.

Elsa pushed the thought away. Thoughts of her sister were too painful.

"Who-Who are you?" she finally managed to stutter.

Instead of answering, the boy just stared at her, wide-eyed, and backed away slowly. He slipped on a patch of ice- Elsa hadn't noticed until then that his feet were bare- and tumbled a few feet down the mountain.

Without even thinking, Elsa ran down to him to help him to his feet. His hands were cold as ice, colder even than her own, when she grabbed them. Realizing that she had just touched someone's bare skin with ungloved hands, she let go and he fell backwards and slid even further, this time not stopping until he crashed into a snow drift.

Elsa was about to run down to help him again when he soared up out of the snow and flew to he side, landing nimbly on his bare toes.

Elsa took a step back. "Who are you? Why are you here? It's not safe. You should go home."

"The name's not important. I only followed you because it snowed without me telling it to."

"You make it snow?" Elsa snorted. "Who are you, Jack Frost?"

"Yes."

Elsa blinked. Took another step back. "That's impossible. Jack Frost is just an expression. It's not a real person…" She squinted. "Wait a second… I know you. I've seen you in Arendelle before, causing trouble for the merchants."

The boy- Jack- shook his head, muttering something like "I'm not an expression, they always say that, I'm real, no one believes-"

His head snapped up. "You don't believe either."

"What?"

"You don't believe in me, so how can you see me?"

Elsa sighed again. "Look kid, I don't know what you're talking about, but the last thing I need is some fifteen-year-old following me, so just scurry on home-"

"I'm not fifteen."

Elsa cocked an eyebrow. "Oh really? Then how old are you?"

"Sixty-three."

"What?"

"I'm sixty-three, and I don't have a home either."

Elsa was starting to get annoyed. She didn't need some smart-aleck teenager following her. He wasn't safe here. No one was safe with her. Not even her own sister.

Jack's voice brought her back to reality. "Ok, so maybe you don't believe me. Come on, sit down. I have a story for you."

Elsa watched in amazement as Jack twirled his staff. Magic, like her own, shot from the end. Ice crystals sprung out of thin air and gathered together to form two beautiful chairs- more like thrones, really. He walked over and sat down in one. She followed without even thinking.

He didn't say anything for a while. He just sat there, staring at nothing. The moonlight made his pale face glow white, and Elsa hadn't realized until then that he was very good looking.

She was snapped out of her daze when he began speaking again. His voice was almost as beautiful as his face, and Elsa found herself totally entranced by his story.

He first spoke of darkness. Crushing, terrifying darkness, and fear. He said the only thing that could chase the darkness away was the moon, full and bright.

"The moon gave me powers," he told her. "It's a blessing and a curse."

"Tell me about it," Elsa grumbled. She moved to stand up. "That's why I have to be alone."

"Alone," Jack repeated. "No one should be alone."

"Oh yeah? What do you know about being alone? You always have a posse of kids following you around, you have plenty of people to keep you company."

"You didn't let me finish my story. It's the curse I spoke of. My powers come with a catch. No one can see me, hear me, or touch me. Unless they believe in me, that is, but who believes in Jack Frost? It's just an expression, after all."

Elsa rolled her eyes. This kid was starting to get on her nerves with all his Jack Frost references and lies about being alone. "Your point is?"

"My point? Well, what is being alone, besides being where no one can see you? I've been alone all my life, and trust me, it's not as great as you seem to think."

"Just leave. Go home. I don't need you telling me how to run my kingdom."

Jack sighed and stood up. He made a show of slowly picking up his staff, then turning to leave. He had only gone a few steps when Elsa grabbed his shoulder.

"Wait."

He turned around, a cocky smirk forming on his perfect face. "So now you want me to stay, do you?"

Elsa desperately grasped for something to say. That she might as well have some company on the mountain? That, for the short time she knew him, she'd begun to develop a crush on him? That he reminded her too much of Anna, so she needed him there, even if only on the other side of a locked door?

"I was hoping you could show me how you made those chairs. I have the same power, see, and I-"

"Say no more," he announced with a grin. "I'll teach you. But first, you should give it a try on your own."

Elsa nodded and took a deep breath. She focused all of her attention on her power and opened her tightly clenched fists. Pitiful blue sparkles shot out of her palm and fizzled into the air.

Her frustrated huffing was interrupted by Jack's chuckles. More embarrassed than she'd like to admit, she turned and marched up to him.

"I've been locked in my room wearing gloves for the past ten years, so I didn't get much practice, okay?"

Still laughing, Jack raised his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, Lady Defensive, calm down. I think you're just trying too hard. Just open your mind and let go."

_ Let go. _Now there's something she hadn't thought of before. She turned to a small pile of snow that had begun to form at her side. This time without focusing so hard, she waved her hands through the air.

The snow began to move. It grew into a pile, then started to take shape. The less she focused, the easier it was. When she finally stopped and stepped back to look at her masterpiece, she almost let out a sob.

It wasn't any ordinary snowman. It was Olaf. Memories of the night her and Anna built their snowy friend came flooding back. This was why she had to leave. This was why she needed to be alone.

Without another word to Jack, Elsa spun on her heel and marched up the mountain. Away from Jack, away from Arendelle, away from Anna.

"Hold on! Wait up!" Jack called after her. He ran to her side, struggling to keep up. She quickened her pace.

"That was great, Elsa! That snowman may be ugly, but it's a huge improvement! You're doing really well!"

"I think you should leave."

"Oh, not this again. You shouldn't be alone, Elsa. You didn't do anything to deserve it."

Spinning to meet his eyes, she gave him a look that she hoped said fury and annoyance, nod desperation and sadness. "Look, Jack, or whatever your name is, You don't know me and you don't know what I've done, so just turn your pretty little self around and go home already."

"You really think I'm pretty?"

Elsa rolled her eyes once again and took a couple steps backwards.

"Elsa, wait."

"Go away, Jack."

"You're about to walk off a cliff."

"I know."

Ignoring the look of confusion on his face, Elsa turned to the cliff before, waved her hands, and ran as fast as she could up the beautiful, solid ice staircase she had just made. She didn't need him anymore. He taught her what she needed to know, so it was time to be alone.

_ Go away, Jack._

_ Go away, Anna._

No. No, Jack wasn't her sister. He was just some random boy she'd known for a few minutes.

He wasn't Anna.

She didn't love him.

She couldn't love him.

She couldn't love anyone anymore. She was a monster, too dangerous to be around anyone. Even Anna. Even Jack.

She had to be alone.


End file.
